The Duchess
by Hild Earnshaw
Summary: This story was inspired by David Almond's book "Heaven Eyes". The book deals with Alzheimer's disease from a children's point of view in a magical and mythological way. In my story Kathryn's grandfather can't remember why he keeps the lights of the derelict harbour at Port Rosedale lit until one stormy night when something magical happens...


**The Duchess**

Kathryn's grandfather was an Artist. He wasn't like other Artists. He painted his pictures on old bits of wood he found in his shed with paint he had left over from painting his house. Most people who saw his pictures said they were no good, they were all flat and the colours were wrong, but Kathryn liked them. They were all over his house, in the bedrooms, in the kitchen, in the front room, even on the front door, and they were all the same. They were all pictures of a ship called The Duchess.

Kathryn thought The Duchess was a beautiful ship. It had four masts and lots of white sails. Her grandfather had been a sailor when he was young. He told her that he had once sailed on The Duchess, and that she (ships were like women he said, they should always be called she) was the most beautiful ship in the world. Before he started forgetting things he used too say that Kathryn was his Duchess, and he told her that one day she would see the beautiful ship. Grandfather lived in an old house by the sea. When the wind blew and the waves crashed against the rocks the house shook like a ship in a storm, and he told her stories about ships, and the sea, and strange faraway places. Kathryn liked him a lot.

Kathryn had lived with her Grandfather since her mum sent her away. After her Dad left her mum was angry and sad most of the time. She didn't seem to like Kathryn any more and stopped cooking and cleaning the house. When it got really bad she told Kathryn to go to her Grandfathers until she sorted her self out. That was two years ago and Kathryn hadn't heard from her since. Her mum gave her the money for the train ticket and a letter to her grandfather explaining that she had sent Kathryn to stay with him to give her a break

Kathryn hoped her mother would feel better soon. She was also worried about her Grandfather. He had something like amnesias disease and kept forgetting things. Kathryn knew that she couldn't go on living with her Grandfather for ever, although if she left he wouldn't be able to look after himself, and he might even have to go into a home. Kathryn knew that her grandfather had been an important man. He was the harbourmaster at Port Rosedale. He told her that fifty years ago when he first got the job and put on the smart blue harbourmaster's uniform with the white hat the small harbour had been filled with ships taking ironstone to Middlesbrough for the steelworks. He said he had more than twenty men working for him then. He had to collect money from all of the captains and send it to London. Thousands of pounds. He had to write the names of all of the ships and how much they paid in a big black book, just in case the inspector wanted to check up.

Now the harbour was empty and the men had gone. There were no ships at Port Rosedale anymore. Only grandfather was left in his little cottage by the south pier. He thought he was still an important man. He thought he was still the harbourmaster. He still had the blue uniform with the white hat, and he still kept the big black book. Now there were no ships he spent most of his time painting The Duchess and writing all the things he had to remember in his big black book. He thought he had to get the harbour ready every day in case a ship came. It was all very difficult he told Kathryn once, there was so much to remember and if he didn't write it all down he would forget what he had to do. He didn't usually talk much to Kathryn about his work, he just told her stories about his life at sea and about The Duchess. Her mother said that the stories weren't true; she said that Grandfather started making things up when he lost his memory. Kathryn didn't know if the stories were true or not. She had never heard of a ship called The Duchess. She didn't think that the ships would ever come back to Port Rosedale. She didn't want to upset her Grandfather though so acted as if she believed everything. She helped him with his work every day (she didn't go to school then) and sometimes he even let her write in his book.

Kathryn was sorry that her grandfather had forgotten lots of things that were very important. He had forgotten that her grandmother had died five years ago. He had forgotten that her mother lived in Leeds. He had forgotten that he had retired twenty years ago and got a gold watch with writing on it. Sometimes he even forgot her name until she told him to write it in his book. He seemed to only remember things that didn't matter. He remembered that he was the harbourmaster. He remembered he had to write everything in the big black book everyday. He remembered the stories. He remembered The Duchess. He kept on painting pictures of her. He was sure that one day soon the ships would come back and he had to be ready he told Kathryn. He had to be ready! Kathryn thought it would take a miracle to bring the ships back to Port Rosedale. And she didn't believe in miracles, at least not until a dark and stormy night thirty years ago now…

There was a force ten easterly gale. The wind blew at nearly one hundred miles an hour straight from the sea. It sent massive waves crashing right into the harbour and filled the air with spray like heavy rain. Kathryn and her grandfather kept watch from the front bedroom window like he always did in storms. He was looking at a picture of a boat in a storm in his Bible when she saw it: a small red light in the noisy darkness, hidden by spray most of the time, moving north. It was the port light of a ship caught in the storm, making its way to safety in Hartlepool or Middlesbrough. Grandfather sang his favourite hymn "Eternal Father Strong to Save" to help it on its way and they watched it for more than an hour until it vanished into the night. Kathryn hoped it would be all right.

Later she saw a green light, shining brighter now through the darkness, moving south. It was the starboard light of the same ship coming back. Kathryn thought there must be something wrong. There was no harbour south of Port Rosedale. Why was the ship sailing away from safety? Grandfather knew that there was something wrong. There was something that he had to remember. The ship in the storm was a sailing ship, and it was in trouble. It was trapped by the wind in the bay and it would be wrecked if it couldn't get away from the land. He looked in his big book and then told Kathryn that the ships were coming back and that he had to show them he was ready. He looked at the waves crashing against the piers and saw that it was almost high tide. He told her to light the leading lights so the ship could find the harbour, and to light the green light at the end of the pier to let the ship know the harbour was open. Then he went to get his coat and they both ran to the end of the south pier to watch and wait.

Gustav Erickson also knew his ship was in trouble. After more than four months and eighteen thousand miles at sea it was trapped on a lee shore. Caught in a bay between two headlands, the great sailing ship was being blown by the gale force wind onto the rocks. He looked at his chart. There was no port or harbour on this stretch of the coast, only cliffs and rocks which would wreck his ship if it couldn't get away. He took his binoculars and searched for a break in the cliffs, a place where he could beach the ship and perhaps save the lives of his crew. Then he saw them: two white lights in the darkness, one above the other, leading lights, the answer to his prayers. He looked at the chart again, read the name "Port Rosedale", and then saw a faint green light shining through the wind and rain next to the two white lights. Now he thought they had a chance. It had to be a harbour; he would follow the lights and take the ship in. It was their only chance.

Standing watching with her Grandfather at the end of the pier in the biting wind and driving rain Kathryn saw a green light then a red light as the ship turned towards them. Her Grandfather opened his Bible and looked at a picture of Jesus walking on the water towards a ship in trouble and sang his favourite hymn again very loudly so it could be heard over the noise of the wind and waves. Then Kathryn saw the red and the green lights next to each other, shining more brightly in the darkness as the ship sailed straight for them and came in fast with the wind behind her. Kathryn could see her sails lashing and hear them cracking in the wind as the sailors fought to take them in. She could hear the shouting of the captain as the men on deck desperately pulled on ropes to get the sails down.

Captain Erickson knew getting the ship into the little harbour would not be easy. The entrance was narrow and the water might not be deep enough, but even if they only got part of the way in they would get shelter. The wind was behind them and they had the lights to guide them. With luck they would make it. Twice he thought they would be wrecked when giant waves hit the ship and pushed it towards the rocks. Twice she shook herself free and turned back towards the lights as the helmsman fought with the wheel to keep the ship on course. Then with crashing waves all around it the ship reached the harbour entrance and stopped dead as her keel touched soft sand. They had made it, they were safe

There was not enough water for the ship to get right into the harbour and she ran aground in the middle of the narrow entrance with the wind whistling in her rigging and the waves crashing against her sides. Kathryn watched wide eyed not daring even to blink in case she missed something. She asked her Grandfather if the ship would be all right and he remembered something very important. It was high tide. Soon the tide would fall and the ship would get shelter. She would be alright, she was safe.

Kathryn couldn't believe how big the ship was. Her four masts towered above the cliff top and her bowsprit almost touched the roof of her grandfather's cottage. The crew stood on the deck shouting and cheering. Captain Erickson looked around the dark and derelict harbour and someone shouted "What place is this?" Grandfather's strong voice rose above the noise of the wind and waves. "Port Rosedale Sir, Alfred Wallace, harbourmaster. What ship are you?" Captain Erickson didn't answer. He couldn't speak. It was a miracle. Why were the lights on at this derelict place? Were they really safe or was it just a dream? What miracle had brought them here?

Kathryn read the name of the ship in the light from the harbour: "Herzogin Cecile". Then she looked round and saw tears rolling down her Grandfather's cheeks; "It's The Duchess" he said, over and over again, "It's The Duchess". Kathryn didn't say that the ship wasn't the Duchess or tell him the ship's real name. She thought that all ships looked the same. She thought that her Grandfather could only remember the name of one ship, The Duchess. She thought that he would only be happy if the ship really was The Duchess. She was just happy that the ship was safe. That was the main thing. So she said nothing, and took him quickly back to his cottage to get him out of the rain and into the warm while Captain Erickson and his crew tidied the ship up and got some rest.

Next day people walking their dogs along the cliff top path saw something that they would never forget. A great ship stuck in a little harbour like a ship in a bottle. Captain Erickson and his crew were up early coiling ropes and getting everything shipshape. The ship's white painted hull was stained with rust after her long voyage, her deck was a tangle of ropes and wires, and she was firmly aground now the tide had fallen, but she was still a beautiful sight. When the news spread people came from miles away just to stand and stare. The newspapers said it was a miracle, and the "Herzogin Cecilie" was on all was on all the front pages.

Kathryn noticed that her Grandfather wrote the real name of the ship in his book, and thought he might be getting better, but he still kept calling the ship The Duchess, and he still couldn't remember anything. The ship stayed for more than six months as spring and then summer came to Port Rosedale. Thousands of people came to see her and the little harbour came back to life when boats came to take off her cargo of wheat to make her float. Then just as autumn was turning to winter she was finally taken away on an extra high tide. Lots of people came from Middlesbrough and Newcastle to watch and they all cheered when she left. Things were never the same at Port Rosedale after that. Kathryn's grandfather seemed to forget everything after the ship left. He stopped writing in his big black book. He stopped painting pictures. He stopped telling stories about the sea. He just sat and stared out to sea with his telescope. Then he died quietly in the front room of his little cottage, sitting in his chair, a month after the ship left.

Then Kathryn had to leave Port Rosedale and go back to school. She didn't want to go back to her mother in Leeds, but went to stay with some relatives in Middlesbrough instead. That winter, almost a year after the ship came there was a big storm and the north pier at Port Rosedale fell into the sea. Soon the sea swept away the little harbour and the piers, the cottage, and the leading lights were gone like the ship. Soon everything that had happened at Port Rosedale started to seem like a dream. People in Middlesbrough didn't believe Kathryn when she said she had saved the ship. Some people said she made things up, just like her Grandfather.

Many years later Kathryn rented a holiday cottage at Whitby near Port Rosedale. She was married and had children. Everything was different. She had almost forgotten, her grandfather, Port Rosedale and the Duchess. She was beginning to believe it was all just a dream, or a story in a book she read long ago. Perhaps she was starting to forget things just like her grandfather. Then something strange happened which changed everything. It was nothing much really; she just saw a torn old book in one of those funny little shops in Whitby. The book was about sailing ships and it had a photograph of **the** ship, "Herzogin Cecilie" on the front. She opened the book and read the introduction. It said "Many sailors thought "Herzogin Cecilie" was the most beautiful ship afloat. They always called her "The Duchess" …" Kathryn didn't normally cry but she couldn't stop crying then: "He did remember", she said over and over again, "He did remember". She bought the book, wrote her name in it, and took it home with her on the train to Middlesbrough. She thought about her Grandfather's paintings when the train went past Port Rosedale. She thought about her Grandfather's paintings when the train went past Port Rosedale. It was getting dark and there were fishermen on the beach. Their torches looked just like the lights of the harbour shining brightly out to sea. The night was clear and far away out at sea there was a red light, a ship going to Middlesbrough. She looked again at the bottom of the cliffs and she thought she could see the harbour just like her Grandfather painted it. She thought she could see The Duchess sailing in out of the darkness. Then she knew she would **always** remember, it wasn't like a dream, it was true, it was **all** true. **He** remembered. She knew. Now she knew.


End file.
